It will be appreciated that in railroad and/or mass and rapid transit operations, it is essential to detect when a brake shoe is dragging on or stuck to the wheel tread or the flat steel disc on a moving railway car in order to prevent the occurrence of a hazardous condition which could cause a derailment and result in damage to equipment or lading and/or injury or death to operating personnel and/or passengers. Since separation of dragging or stuck brakes can result in undue delay in train movement, it is vital to distinguish between a valid and a false dragging and/or stuck brake condition. In the past, a faulty sensing transducer was capable of simulating a dragging and/or stuck brake condition, which caused a false alert and which resulted in unnecessary stopping of the train for inspection and/or examination of the brake rigging. The needless stopping of trains adversely effects the time of arrival and disrupts the scheduling, which is both costly and time-consuming, and causes disruption of the operations of the carrier.